Wednesday, 2 January 2013

I'm a Baby get Me Out of Here!

If one thing is apparent to me these days, it is that Leo is trouble with a capital T. He only needs to see you do something once before it is instilled in his memory, so that next time he can do it himself whether you want him to or not, and it is usually the latter. He ransacks my kitchen and plays around with the washing machine, he tries to escape the lounge so that he can climb the stairs and cause destruction on the upper levels…

I stand there watching him and sometimes feel like pulling my hair out and realise that it is high time we got the new house baby proofed.

Somewhere inside of me I could feel a fiendish giggle stifling, the idea was pure genius and something we should have done sooner rather than later, if not only to keep my hair on my head.

I booked an appointment with Baby Safe Homes to come and baby proof the entirety of the house, and as the day approached for their arrival, I realised just how excited I was about the prospect of stair gates. The idea of being able to leave a wash on, all alone in the kitchen and knowing that when I next came back to check on it, it would still be on and Leo would not have turned it off without my knowing.

Baby Safe Homes are dedicated to providing families peace of mind, by creating a safe and healthy environment for babies and toddlers to explore, learn and grow.

Chris and his team know that as a parent, your number one concern is the safety of your infant, baby or toddler. Identifying hidden hazards and purchasing the correct baby safety equipment is just the beginning of baby proofing.

'Installing a baby gate, cabinet latches or other safety products correctly can be challenging for any new parent. To help minimise dangers and prevent costly damage to your home, let Baby Safe Homes do the work for you.'

Chris and his collegue from Baby Safe Homes arrived bright and early in the wet and rainy Worcestershire town and quickly set their sights on what we would need to have done to keep Leo where he was supposed to be.

Chris set to work and sourced the areas of the house that we would need to address. Chris thought of things that I had not even considered a safety risk, such as attaching the television to the wall with a strap to keep little hands from pulling it forward on top of them.

After a thorough assessment it was time to bring in the all important equipment and before long I had a stair gate at my kitchen door so that Leo could not escape in there and fiddle with my appliances. There was one at the entrance to the hallway so that when I was in the kitchen I knew he was still playing happily in the lounge.

In our lounge we have a log burning stove which we use regularly so it was important for us to have a fire guard in place to stop our curious toddler from getting too close. The new fire guard has been great and it allows Luke and I easy access to add more logs and maintain the fire while keeping Leo completely out of harms way.

Leo must have known the house was being restricted as he was not in the chirpiest of moods and did not take well to the new stair gates keeping him at bay!

Chris and his colleague installed all of the equipment from the pressure stair gates used on the lower level to the fitted gates used on the stairs. I found the entire service professional and friendly from start to finish and was amazed that they even tidied up after themselves! Real gents!

The equipment that we have had fitted has been really easy to use and implement into the day to day running of our home, most importantly it has kept me sane and Leo exactly where he is supposed to be (unless of course silly Mummy has not closed said stair gate...)

Baby Safe Homes is based in London and offer the complete package, from the initial assessment of what you need to do to safe guard your home to taking out the hassle and confusion that often comes from fitting this foreign equipment. I was very thankful to have Chris show me how it all operated and could not be happier with the service and the finished fittings.

The after care has been great, we actually had one of the stair gates come off the wall and upon informing Chris he even offered to travel the 2 hours back to Worcestershire to put it back up for me. Of course I told him not to worry and got Luke on the case!

If you live outside of London then you can still benefit from this service but Baby Safe Homes do charge travel costs, for a full cost estimate it is very worth contacting Chris to see what he can do for you.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a discount on the baby proofing of my home, however all views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.